TIFF 2026: CHILDREN UNTOLD

    Miwa Nishikawa returns to TIFF for the first time in six years with a deeply thorough and engaging historical odyssey. An adaptation of a soon-to-be-released novel of the same name (also by Nishikawa), Children Untold’s narrative follows the story of Kotoko Kayano, who, after losing her family, disguises herself as a boy and joins a group of orphans, eventually taking the audience on a tragic and empathetic tale about how horribly war displaces families and abandons children who are in need of support. 

From the very first frame of Children Untold, the audience is thrown into a post-war view of Tokyo that captures the magic of experiencing art as a child and directly juxtaposes it with moments of violence and anger—between children and adults alike. Just like the experiences these children face, the movie does not hold back in demonstrating the miserable brutality of war. It makes for a deeply unsettling and consistently uncomfortable viewing experience, but it only underlines and bolsters the film’s core message, as well as why it’s so powerful as an anti-war film. 

At a certain point in the film’s 150-minute runtime, I was hit with an unmistakable feeling: Ami Koyae’s performance as Kotoko Kayano is so powerful and nuanced that I must have spent a lot of time living under a rock—surely, this performer has a refined resume. Nope. This is her first film ever, in terms of being a lead performer or otherwise. Her performance bursts with compassion and energy, especially during incredibly emotional scenes that require a high calibre of acting. It’s hard not to get extremely involved in the narrative when Koyae is giving an Oscar-worthy performance, and supporting actor Fumi Nikaidô gives the piece a perfect sense of tonal balance; through both the narrative perspective of a child and a school teacher, the audience is shown the horrifying reality of war. 

Despite the constant barrage of upsetting scenes and uncomfortable circumstances, Kotoko is portrayed with a sense of hope and determination to find a better way for herself, a stark juxtaposition to the situations that are occurring around her. All too frequently, Hollywood churns out war movies with sketchy politics, and Children Untold acts as a breath of fresh air in that direction. Utilizing the mostly child-perspective narrative, Nishikawa takes ample measures to ensure that war is not thought about fondly; children have been abandoned and have to fend for themselves.

It’s a heavy film, but an endlessly important one, especially because war is still a persistent and destructive force happening in this world. It’s a reminder of all of the children who had to (and still have to) deal with the fallout of war, homelessness, displacement, and consistently unsafe circumstances. Children Unknown is an incredibly hard watch, and it gets even harder with the knowledge that it's based on historical truth. The lead performance from Ami Koyae is destined to live in your head for weeks after watching. 

Written By: Ben Scanga